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Manning Monitor article ------ 1943
Pfc. Merlin Welch Graduates
Gulfport Field, Miss. Pfc. Merlin D. Welch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Welch of Manning, has
been graduated from Gulfport Field, big Army Air Forces Technical Training Command
School for airplane mechanics specialized in maintenance of cargo and transport type
airplanes.
During his stay at Gulfport Field, Pfc. Welch received a highly technical course of
instruction covering 112 days of mechanical instruction. At the conclusion of his formal
schooling, he spent 8 days in Gulfport Field's "Guadalcanal" Graduation Field Test Area,
where he lived in a pup tent and put his knowledge to work under combat conditions.
The area is nicknamed "Guadalcanal" because of its rugged set-up.
Pfc. Welch was a aircraft worker in civilian life, employed by Boeing Aircraft Company of
Wichita, Kansas.
Manning Monitor article ------ 1945
Mrs. Merlin Welch received word Monday that the B-29 bomber, Thumper, on which
her husband, Sgt. Merlin Welch, above, engine mechanic, had worked the past year on
Saipan, helping keep the plane in condition for missions, was to be on exhibit at the
Martin, Nebraska B-29 plant Monday and Tuesday.
She was invited to inspect the plane
and accompanied by Sgt. Welch's mother, Mrs. Ben Welch, and his sister, Mrs. Mac
McCullough of Omaha, they saw the plane and were conducted on a tour of the plant where
this type of plane is made.
Sgt. Welch has named the engine which he services, "Betty" for his wife. He also has a
daughter Gwendolyn, who makes her home in Manning with her mother.
His parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Welch, also live here.
Sgt. Welch entered the service March 15, 1943, and took training at Miami Beach, Fla.,
Gulfport, Miss., Ypsilanti, Mich., and Pratt, Kan., and left the states in July, 1944.
According to Lt. Col, Robert E. Haynes, pilot of the plane, Thumper is the only one left of
the planes participating in the first B-29 raid over Tokyo.
On the side of the plane are 26 Japanese flags indicating the number of enemy planes
shot down by the plane and also 40 bombs, the number of bombing missions to the credit of the plane.
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